Floor covering and method of making the same



Oct. 29, 1935.

A. ELMENDORF FLOOR COVERING AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed 001;.17, 1932 Patented Oct. 29, 1935 FLOOR COVERING AND METHOD OF MAKING THESAME Armin Ehnendorf, Chicago, 111. Application October 17, 1932, SerialNo. 638,106 4 Claims. (01.2045) The present invention has for its objectto produce a simple and novel pre-formed wooden flooring which may bequickly laid, which will accom- .modate itself to an uneven under flooror supporting surface without leaving open cracks, and

in which the individual wood elements may expand and contract withoutproducing a buckling effect of the flooring as a whole or causing anyappreciable expansion or contraction of the flooring as a whole.

Viewed in one of its aspects, the present invention may be said to havefor its object to create Viewed in another of its aspects, the presentinvention may be said to have for its object to produce a simple andnovel pre-formed flooring composed of wood tiles united by an elastic orrubberlike binding or cementing material which will produce waterproofjoints and permit the structure as a whole to adapt itself to an unevenunderlying support without developing cracks in the joints and whichwill permit the tiles to expand and contract without setting upobjectionable stresses in the flooring as a whole.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fragment of my improved flooring,portions of two of the tiles being broken away to expose some of theadjacent bar-like grid elements; Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the firststep in the manufacture of the'flooring, showing the wooden tilesadhered to a temporary backing; Fig. 3 is a view illustrating a methodof introducing theplastic material which is to form the'elastic grill;Fig. 4 is an edge view of the fragment of flooring shown in Figs. 2 and3, flattened after the spaces between the tiles have been filled withthe cementing and binding material; Fig. 5 is an edge view similartoFigs. 2 and 4, showing a. permanent backing attached or adhered to theopposite face of the structure from that to which the temporary backingwas initially attached; and Fig. 6 is an end view of a l modified formof wood tile.

- Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing, I, l represent small woodentiles of any desired size and shape; those illustrated being smallsquare blocks perhaps a quarter of an inch thick. Each tile 10 istherefore held in a small elastic frame which forms an integral part ofa large multicellular frame of the size of the panel or sheet in whichthe flooring happens to be manufactured. These bar-like elements are notmere crack fillers but 16 must be of considerable thickness. When thetiles are bonded to the elastic grill the elements of the grill must bethick enough not to rupture .under the stresses to which they aresubjected when the tiles contract as much as they are ever 20 apt to inservice. Ordinarily the tiles will not be spaced apart farther thannecessary and it may therefore be said that the spacing of the tileswill usually be that which will enable the tiles to expand and contractwithout rupturing the ele- 25 ments of the elastic grill. In thearrangement shown, the tiles are spaced perhaps ,a sixteenth to aneighth of an inch apart, so that the grill is composed of flat bar-likeelements 2 and 3 set on edge and extending at right angles to eachother. Such elements are thick enough to withstand the rupturingstresses to which I have just referred. The grill is composed of amaterial which will act as a cement or binder to hold theblocks togetherand yet will be elastic to'permit 35 the tiles to yield in accommodatingthemselves to an underlying supporting surface, and to expand andcontract, in use, without setting up any 0b.- jectionable stresses inthe flooring. The material of the grill is therefore preferably of arubberlike consistency after it has set, so as to permit the bar-likeelements of the grill to expand transversely and become thicker as theedges of the tiles between which they lie move away from each other,without becoming loose from either 66 adjacent'tile, or rupturing, andpermitting them' to contract and become thinner as the edges of thetiles between which they lie move toward each other. Bitumasticproducts, such as asphalts and tars, that are poured hot, are notsuitable for 50 the purpose for, instead of being elastic, they tend toflow and a body or mass thereof will not retain the form that mayinitially be given to it. In actual practice I have found thatcommercial rubber latex to which has been added a suit- 86 able fillerserves admirably as the material for the 1111.. I have successfullyemployed commercial rubber latex having a rubber content of from fortyto sixty per cent., the whole being of liquid consistency. To this latexI add s'ufiicient filling material to create a paste. Various neutralfillers may be employed, good results having been obtained with groundmica. Talc also makes a good filler. Instead of rubber latex there maybe employed rubber substitutes such as drying 'oils and resins which dryelastic.

The tiles may have fiat edge faces or, if dehinglengthwise of the grain.Therefore, the barlike elements of the grid will haveon the sides thatface the edge grooves in the tiles ribs, such as indicated at 5, 5, thatfit into the grooves.

The grill may be preformed and the tiles be afterwards set into theopenings thereof; being 1 held in place either by the grip of theelements x of the grill or by a cementitious material interposed betweenthe grill elements and the tiles.

- grill may be cemented to a permanent backing 6 in a plastic state.

On the other hand, the material for thegrill may be introduced into thespaces between the tiles, properly positioned relatively to each other,

In some forms of my invention the sheet or panel consisting of the'tiles set into the elastic of any suitable flexible material. When theflooring is to be laid over concrete, it may be advisable that thebacking be of felt saturated with asphalt or the like, or be otherwisemade. waterproof.

' In manufacturing the flooring those faces of the tiles, which are theupper or wearing faces when the flooring isin use, may be given thedesired surface finish before assembling them in the flooring. When thematerial for the grill is to be applied in a plastic condition into thespaces between the tiles, the tiles are conveniently secured, face down,one temporary back-- I, in proper spaced relation to each other,

as indicated in Fig. 2. The backing maybe thin paper which afterwardsmay be washed off, or be of any other suitable material which can beused more than once. The rudimentary flooring, consisting of the tilesadhered to the temporary hacking, then receives the cementitiousmaterial which fills the spaces between the tiles, adheres to the tiles,and forms a single unitary elastic grill that ties all of the tilestogether. A simple way of handling the rudimentary flooring to insurecomplete filling of the spaces between. the tiles is'to flex theflooring. upwardly in order to widen the mouths of the gaps or troughsbetween the tiles.. This can conveniently be accomplished,

- as illustrated in Fig. 3, by placing the rudimentary flooring on afiat table A having at one end a downwardly sloping section B. Byshifting the rudimentary flooring along the table until one of thetransverse or longitudinal spaces across the rudimentary sheet or panelis at the angle between the flat and the inclined sections of the table,the desired widening of the gap or passage is effected. The cementitiousor binding material C is then poured in and pressed or trowelled, so asto cause the material to flow into intimate contact with the temporarybacking and all of the adjacent edge faces of the tiles. One chan nelafter another is filled in this way and then the entire rudimentaryflooring is again flattened. as indicated in Fig. 4, causing some of thece- I mentitious material to be extruded in the upward direction, asindicated at D inFig. 4. This surplus cementitious material is thenscraped dfl and, where there is to be a permanent backing, the backingis applied as indicated in Fig. 5. In 10 any event, after thecementitious material has set, the temporary backing is removed.

It will be seen that by introducing the cementitious material from that.side which is the undcr side of the flooring after it has been laid forll use, the temporary backing serves as the wall of a mold which causesthe cementitious material to be leveled off in the planeiof the face ofthe flooring which at the time is at the bottom. Consequently, when thetemporary backing is re- U moved, after the cementitious material hasset, the joints in the face of the flooring are even and smooth.

When the rudimentary fioor is provided with a fiexible permanentbacking, such as heretofore r described, the backing permits slightmovement of the wood elements due to contraction and .ex-- pansion.'Where there is'no flexible backing, but the tiles are laid directlyupon the subfloor of concrete, means must be provided to permit the anecessary relative movements of the 'diflerent parts of each tile toallow for contraction and expansion. This can conveniently beaccomplished by providing each tile with one or more grooves extendingacross the central part of the #1 same on the under side, lengthwise ofthe grain. When the fioor is laid upon the sub-floor, covered with alayer of plastic cementitious material to bond the floor to thesub-floor, the grooves in the tiles become filled with the bondingcement. 40,. Upon the setting of the bonding cement, the ridges thereoffill the grooves in the under sides of the wood tiles and act as anchorswhich hold the central portion of each tile stationary while permittingthe edge portions of the tile to move 4 slightly relatively to thecenter as contraction and expansion take place. Thus, in Fig. 6, I haveshown a tile Ill having in the under face a central longitudinal groovell parallel with the edge grooves 4, 4. The bonding cement enters thegrooves H and, as explained above, anchors the tile at the middle.

While my improved fioor lends itself admirably to the production ofpreformed floor sec-' tions or units of any desired size, in which theindividual tiles are given their final finish before being assembledtherein, it is, of course, possible. and it may sometimes be .desirable,to manufacture the units or sections in such a form that they may bescraped and sanded and be then given the desired surface coatings afterthe assembly of the wood tiles and grill has'been completed. Whencertain of the inert fillers, such as mica or talc, are used the grillthat holds the tiles together not only possesses the desired elasticity,but its character is such that the surface of the rudimentary floor maysuccessfully be sanded with the grill in place between the tiles. Inother words, the wearing face of the rudimentary unit orpanel, whensanded, will be smooth and continuous, just as though there were nocomparatively wide joints between the tiles: there being no roughing-upof the rubber or rubber-like compound due to the braiding action of thesanding appliances. Then, after the Band- 10 salami ing has beencompleted, the desired ace coatinns may he applied in the usual way.

My improved flooring may be made in sheets or panels of any desiredlength and width, as long as the sheets or panels are not made too larseto be easily handled in shipping and laying. The flooring may be quicklyand easily laid, being secured to the supporting surface therefor by anysuitable adhesive, such as any of the adhesives commonly employed inlaying linoleum or the like, if desired. Where a waterproof adhmive isused, it will serve also efiectively to secure together the meetingedges of adjacent sheets or panels. When the flooring is laid it willadapt itself to the configuration of the supporting surface; some or theelements of the grill stretching and others being compressed, accordingas-they are in zones of convemty or oi concavity, without becoming loosefrom the tiles or opening cracks. Since the tiles have received theirfinal surface finish before the floor is laid, the cost of laying afloor is very small. Furthermore, after the flooring has been laid, itwill contain no cracks or crevices in which water or dirt may collect orthrough which water may seep and thus cause rotting underneath, and willnot develop cracks through rupturing of the elastic material oi thegrills.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a singlepreferred form of my invention, with a slight modification, I do notdesire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustratedand described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which comewithin the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method 0! making a pre-formed floor covering in the form ofcontinuous flexible sheets or panels, which consists in adhering woodentiles, face down and in spaced relation to each other, to a flexibletemporary leaching, flexing the bacmng to cause the spaces between thetiles to widen at the top, introducing into the spaces between the tilesan elastic cement in a plastic condition, flattening the structuretocause some a of the cement to be extruded upwardly, scraping ed thesurplus cement above the tiles, and, after the cement has set, removingthe temporary backing.

2. A pro-formed floor covering material comas prising a unitary grill ofelastic material 'com- I posed of bars integral with each other andforming an elastic flexible fiat sheet filiedwith openings therethrough,and wooden tiles set in said openings, each tile filling one of theopenings 15 and adhering at its edges to the bars contact- I ing withthe same whereby, upon contraction of the tiles, the barsare stretchedtransversely as the distances between adjacent tiles increase.

3. A floor covering comprising a sheet of fiexe ible elastic materialfilled with holes distributed 1 across the length and breadth of thesame and separated from each other by comparatively narrow bar-likeelements, and wooden tiles each set into one oi said openings andadhering to the bar-like elements surrounding and engaged with the same.

4.. The method of making. a pro-formed floor covering in the form of aself-supporting unitary sheet or panel, which consists in adheringwooden tiles, face down and in spaced relation to each other, to atemporary backing, filling the spaces between the tiles with aplasticcementitious material which is elastic and flexible upon setting,removing any excess of said cementitious $5 material that may projectbeyond the plane of the rear faces of the tiles and. after thecementitious material has set, removing the temporary backing.

